City within a city

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I was kindly allowed by our new member, civitas, to post his 3D sketches of what he "envisions" for "A Riverfront Project". As opposed to discussions regarding any other proposals on this land, we should speak mostly about his (or her) particular plan:

In true johnfaichney style, I would say I love it. I like how the focus is the river. I like how the heights are more of a human scale and not too ostentatiously tall. I like the criss-crossing plaza with the obelisk at the center.

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That looks freaking awesome I Imagine the center buildings (the tallest ones) are around 20-25 stories on thier own, is that safe to assume?

Yea, civitas wrote earlier that the tallest buildings would be 20 stories. Also, he/she indicated that the density and height of the buildings depicted would be approximately what would be needed to achieve $one billion in construction (if I understand correctly).

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Are all the large "peach" colored areas open green space covering underground parking?

This is great! I can make up answers to any detailed questions because its just a concept (I only spent a few hours on the sketches while watching TV).

Parking for 10,000 employees or 5-6 million SF is significant. I would assume that a few of the easterly buildings would be "liners" for internal parking ramps. That is to say the facade of the parking structure would actually be a narrow building.

With this amount of density, public parking ramps are also possible.

Functionally there would be some surface lots. There would also be on-street parking on all streets for guests and customers. Parking could also be in or under the courtyards.

BTW, the courts are, in part, a reflection of the reasonable width of the buildings relative to the desire for light and the need for fire egress (like the Trust Building). That is especially true for residential buildings.

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Nice plan, and I like open air atrium/courtyards used on the eastern block of buildings. Also the healthy use of large tracts of "green space" as you get closer to the river.

For design changes, I'd consider a more staggered approach to building height in order to maximize the view of the river. Traverse City does this nicely for the view of the Grand Traverse Bay with height ordiences that stagger building height to go from 3 storys along US 31, to 4 to 5 stories along the main street in the downtown district, to even higher heights passed that street to the south. The objective being to give every building a chance to have a view of the bay. I'd suggest the same here, by shortening the two arched buildings down a story or two near the marina, decreasing the height of buildings a story or two that flank the west side of Market Street, while increasing there sister building's height a story or two on the east side of Market.

Also maybe move the two buildings in the far northwest corner of the property back off the river front and on a diagonal parallel to the S-Curve off ramp. That would open up more green space in front the buildings toward the river, block off the off ramp from view from that open space, and compliment those nice arched buildings around the marina a little more. They just kind of stick out to abruptly for my taste and I think a diagonal set off the river a little bit would break them up and be more visually appealing.

A suggested addition. A large, grand-looking AmTrak rail depot to replace the current dinky one!

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Although interesting, and just a concept.....this is an assumption one shouldn't necessarily make.

What would your concept look like without respect for current grid?

I would think maintaining the Market Street grid, and the Grandville grid would be important, but all other streets being open for changes. It's pretty much isolated on the East and West by the ITP Station and the river, respectively, which gives you a lot of flexibility to not have to maintain "connectivity" from East to West. Access to the site from Wealthy St and Oakes St may be needed for visitors.

Definitely I think a new train station and a future light rail station are a must. I also have to agree that to not take advantage of the growing (and future) downtown skyline would be a mistake.